September 17, 2014

If you’re a frequent visitor to Google’s web properties or the New Tab Page in Chrome then you’ll be familiar with the white Google Bar that sits at the top of each page.

The ‘Google Bar‘ brings a consistency to the experience of using Google sites and services like Gmail, Calendar and Maps. It also ties in Google+ sharing and notification features and, relevant for this article, a little app launcher for Google services.

A new extension by Carlos Jeurissen brings the latter, the product switcher element, to the Chrome toolbar. Once installed, you won’t need to open a new tab or browse to a Google website to get at the feature: just click the toolbar button and select your destination!

While (sadly) not a launcher for apps installed from the Web Store there’s no denying that it’s useful; it offers up a quick and easy way to get at your favourite Google services without having to leave whatever page you’re on.